Does anyone have any experience with learning/relearning piano at a later age?

I took lessons as all Asian kids do when I was young, tried again in my 20s and still didn’t stick, am 37 now and am trying to get back into it. I brought my MIDI controller and iPad to band practice today and despite my lack of skill managed to come up with me just on keys then grabbing my guitar halfway through and half-assedly doing that thing where I was fretting with my left hand and hitting keys with my right.

Is there an app/website like JustinGuitar that all the kids who are learning piano from scratch use or is it better to try to get into lessons as opposed to self-learning?

defendyachtrock wrote: Tue Apr 29, 2025 12:04 am Does anyone have any experience with learning/relearning piano at a later age?

i am a very half-arsed keys player but what ability i do have i regained in my thirties. i would always recommend finding a good teacher (that phrase is doing a lot of lifting, i know) who can examine your posture & bodywork and help you zero in on habits, tendencies and external factors: how to find the right height for your bench, where you should be producing the motion from. i doubt you need to be told what notes to play with the thumb when playing an ascending c major scale in the right hand, but it was a gamechanger for me. i lucked out by marrying one. their recommendation for self study is "john thompson's easiest piano course": "by the end of book 4 you can basically play the piano".

Preferred oil for cleaning/conditioning a rosewood fretboard?

I use this stuff:

https://www.musicnomadcare.com/Products ... -Oil-2-oz/

Is there an isolating earplug with a background mic to bring sound back in? I'm looking for something that could replace my sensophonics earplugs that will reduce sound by isolating, and bring sound back in via a mic. Kind of like hearing aides, but for lowering sound and controlling the volume that comes back in. Does something like this exist? Are there earbuds out there that are good at doing this?

I have a pair of Shure AONICS and Anker Soundcores. They kind of do this, but I'm not sure they lower the db enough. My ear condition requires good isolation. Sensaphonics are great, but mine are getting long in the tooth and before I drop $$$ on custom ear plugs, I wonder if there's a more modern solution.

My intention is to use these for band practice and going out of the house to loud social places.

four_oclocker_2.2 wrote: Tue Apr 29, 2025 8:59 am Preferred oil for cleaning/conditioning a rosewood fretboard?

I use lemon oil. Dunlop Formula 65. It works just fine, not sure why some of these polishers/cleaners avoid lemon oil.

https://www.jimdunlop.com/formula-65-fr ... lemon-oil/

four_oclocker_2.2 wrote: Tue Apr 29, 2025 8:59 am Preferred oil for cleaning/conditioning a rosewood fretboard?

I use BooS Block cutting board conditioner because I have some on hand and i'm sure its just fine.

four_oclocker_2.2 wrote: Tue Apr 29, 2025 8:59 am Preferred oil for cleaning/conditioning a rosewood fretboard?

I've used water and a little olive oil, but it don't know if it is a good idea

Kniferide wrote: Tue Apr 29, 2025 11:28 am

four_oclocker_2.2 wrote: Tue Apr 29, 2025 8:59 am Preferred oil for cleaning/conditioning a rosewood fretboard?

I've used water and a little olive oil, but it don't know if it is a good idea

Olive oil is actually a terrible oil for anything other than food and skin. It goes rancid pretty easily. Def not recommended for cutting boards. I would think that your guitar fret board would get really nasty over time if you used olive oil. On the flip side, lemon oil is a natural cleaner and sanitizer and often used for cleaning and shining up wood.

cakes wrote: Tue Apr 29, 2025 11:41 am

Kniferide wrote: Tue Apr 29, 2025 11:28 am

four_oclocker_2.2 wrote: Tue Apr 29, 2025 8:59 am Preferred oil for cleaning/conditioning a rosewood fretboard?

I've used water and a little olive oil, but it don't know if it is a good idea

Olive oil is actually a terrible oil for anything other than food and skin. It goes rancid pretty easily. Def not recommended for cutting boards. I would think that your guitar fret board would get really nasty over time if you used olive oil. On the flip side, lemon oil is a natural cleaner and sanitizer and often used for cleaning and shining up wood.

Seemed to work fine, but i've only ever cleaned a fretboard like twice in 35 years.